Conventionally, in air-conditioning controlling systems such as for central air-conditioning systems, and the like, air conditioners have been provided as air-conditioning equipment for supplying, into a subject space that is subject to the air-conditioning control, air that has been conditioned, where the amount of cold water supplied to the air conditioner and the supply air flow rate of the conditioned air from the air conditioner have been controlled in accordance with the load conditions of the subject space that is subject to the air-conditioning control. While, in the following, a subject space that is subject to air-conditioning control shall be termed a “subject space,” all instances of “subject space” within this specification shall refer to spaces that are subject to air-conditioning control.
FIG. 17 illustrates the critical portions of a conventional air-conditioning controlling system, referencing, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication H7-35372. In this figure, 1 is an air conditioner, 2 is a controlling device that is installed in the air conditioner 1, and 3 is a subject space that is subject to air-conditioning control, to which conditioned air (supply air) is supplied from the air conditioner 1.
A cold water coil 1A, a hot water coil 1B, and a blower (a supply air fan) 1C are provided in the air conditioner 1. Moreover, a cold water valve 4 is provided in the supply route of cold water CW to the cold water coil 1A, and a hot water valve 5 is provided in the supply path of hot water to the hot water coil 1B. A temperature sensor 6 is provided in the subject space 3 that is subject to air-conditioning control.
The controlling device 2 inputs the temperature Tr from within the subject space 3 (the room temperature), detected by the temperature sensor 6, and, if cooling, controls the opening of the cold water valve 4 or, if heating, controls the opening of the hot water valve 5 so that the room temperature Tr will match the temperature set point Trs. It also controls the speed of rotation of the supply air fan 1C. That is, it controls the temperature that of the air that is supplied from the air conditioner 1 (the supply air temperature) and the flow rate of the air supplied from the air conditioner 1 (the supply air flow rate).
In this type of air-conditioning controlling system, the room temperature Tr within the subject space 3 does not always arrive at the temperature set point Trs, notwithstanding the air conditioner providing a quantity of heat to the subject space 3 at its maximum capacity. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 17, in a case, as illustrated in FIG. 18, wherein the range over which the temperature of the air supplied from the air conditioner 1 can be adjusted is 15 to 30° C., the range over which the flow rate of the air that is supplied from the air conditioner 1 can be adjusted is 600 to 3000 m3/h, and the temperature set point Trs is 26° C., the room temperature Tr of the subject space 3, when cooling, falls only to 27° C., for example, so does not reach the temperature set point Trs=26° C., despite the supply air temperature being 15° C. and the supply air flow rate being 3000 m3/h.
While there is the suspicion that the capacity of the air conditioner 1 is inadequate, there are also the following unusual circumstances that make it difficult to conclude that the capacity of the air conditioner 1 is inadequate just because, with the air conditioner 1 at the maximum of its capacity, the room temperature Tr did not arrive at the temperature set point Trs:
(1) There are cases wherein the air-conditioning controlling method that is applied to the controlling device 2 will cause the air conditioner 1 to provide the maximum heat quantity to the subject space 3 temporarily in an attempt to cause the room temperature Tr to arrive at the temperature set point Trs. While, in such a case, the room temperature Tr does not arrive at the temperature set point Trs, this does not mean that the capacity of the air conditioner 1 is inadequate.
(2) There are cases wherein the heat quantity is not supplied to the subject space 3 at the maximum capacity of the air conditioner 1, notwithstanding the capacity of the air conditioner 1 being adequate. That is, there are cases wherein the air conditioner 1 does not demonstrate its maximum capacity, despite a thermal load exceeding the capacity of the air conditioner 1.
Such a state may occur, for example, when the air-conditioning controlling method that is applied to the controlling device 2 attempts to change the supply air temperature gradually in order to avoid causing instability in the control of the supply air temperature and the supply air flow rate.
While, over time, the negative effects of these control methods will be overcome, as time passes there will be changes in the indoor environment (in the heat production within the room, the heat that enters from the outside, and temperatures of objects within the room), making it difficult to draw conclusions.
In a method of evaluating the state of supply of the heat quantity to the subject space from the air-conditioning equipment based on whether or not the air-conditioning equipment provides the heat quantity to the subject space at its maximum capacity (whether or not the air-conditioning equipment is operating at its maximum capacity) and whether or not the room temperature of the subject space has arrived at the temperature set point (whether or not there is arrival at the temperature set point value), incorrect conclusions may be drawn if the air-conditioning controlling method that is applied to the controlling device, and the situation within the indoor environment, are not well understood.
Moreover, in an air-conditioning controlling system wherein air-conditioning is performed by dividing a large space into a plurality of zones, that is, in an air-conditioning controlling system wherein each of a plurality of zones into which the large space is divided is defined as a subject space, if the heat quantity required by a zone is not balanced with the heat quantity supplied by the air-conditioning equipment, then the heat of that zone or the air supplied from the air-conditioning equipment in that zone may have a large effect on the surrounding zones.
For example, if a large number of servers is placed in a given zone, causing that the thermal load to achieve the supply capacity of the air-conditioning equipment, then the heat from the servers will have an impact on adjacent zones as well, increasing the heat quantities required by the adjacent zones. However, it is difficult to ascertain the effects from adjacent zones when checking the statuses of each individual zone individually, making it difficult to plan countermeasures.
The present invention was created in order to solve problems such as these, and an aspect thereof is to provide a heat quantity displaying device and method wherein it is possible to evaluate appropriately the state of supply of the heat quantity from the air-conditioning equipment into the applicable air-conditioned space even without a full understanding of the air-conditioning controlling method.
Also, to provide a heat quantity displaying device and method wherein, even if the air-conditioning controlling method is not understood, the state of supply of the heat quantity from the air-conditioning equipment to each individual zone wherein a large space is divided into a plurality of zones can be evaluated appropriately, enabling cross-zone effects to be discovered easily.